Pinspired

So, it seems really crazy to me, but my life had a drastic change in it a couple of months back.

And, not, I’m not talking about this:

I’m talking about Pinterest.

It seems SO silly that something so simple has changed my life, but it really has!

I need to regularly update things I’m doing, trying, tasting, learning, etc from Pinterest. There are so many ideas out there for my house, my tummy, my kids, my LIFE that I’m finding on there!

Now, a side note. I maaaaay look on there when I should be doing other things. Like cleaning.

But, not sleeping. That is too precious.

Anyway, I have tried so many new recipes and have enjoyed a lot of them! There are some that are so yummy!! Here are some of my favorites: Creamy Chicken Taquitos, (OMG, seriously, make these NOW!), chicken and wild rice casserole, pineapple fried rice, make ahead muffin melts, chipotle rice, jalapeno popper dip, and creamy white chicken and artichoke lasagna (Oh. My. WORD!) to name a few. I'm trying to try at least one new recipe each week!

I also have started doing things inspired or found on Pinterest to help save money; I’ve made and frozen beans and chicken stock, made my own liquid laundry soap, dishwasher soap and a bunch of other household cleaners, weed killer, and other little things. I love that I’m saving money!

It has also helped give me ideas for activities for Kalayaand eventually Jakiah! We have made our own sensory tables, come up with crafts, painted with different things, tried new games and many other things! It’s given lots of alternatives to TV when I need Kalaya busy! I'm trying really hard to do at least one new activity per week and do repeated ones throughout each week.

I’ve also pinned a lot of ideas for organization and getting back in shape, but I’m still getting to those. 

Give me time. : )

4 Months

As we approach the 4 month (on Friday) mark for Jakiah, I have to sit back and catch my breath. Yes, I can certainly insert thousands of cliches right here about how time is flying, how much faster it goes with 2 kids, I can't believe it, blah, blah, blah.

But, really, hasn't he always been in my life?

How did I got 29 years without this sweet, perfect, lovable baby boy who has stolen my heart forever?

I love Kalaya so much. She is my first baby, who will always have that special, special place in my heart. I was so worried that I could never possibly love another child as much as I love her. I was a teeny bit disappointed when I found out I was having a boy, because I loved having a little girl so much!!

And then, all of a sudden, this little boy was in my life. And I fell head. over. heels. in. LOVE. Seriously, it is a whole different type of love. My priest (who is a woman with a son of her own) used to say to me, "There's something about a relationship between a mother and a son...." And I get it now. Completely.

Of course, I love my kids equally. They are both my world, my everything, my reason for being.

But, I don't love them the same way. Not even close.

There's something about having a tiny little man look at you in awe and worship that is so wonderful. Right now, I am the center of his world, his main source of comfort, of food, of safety, of happiness. It's so humbling and so special. (can you tell how much I ADORE having babies???) He has me wrapped completely around his finger and I am starting to understand Nelson with his daughter a little more. There's just something about it...

Jakiah is growing so much! He's comfortably fitting in 6 month clothes and I don't know how much longer that will last. He's up to a size 2 disposable at night and we've adjusted the cloth diapers up a size. We snuck him on the baby scale at Kalaya's 3 year appointment and he was 14 pounds! (fully dressed) And that was a couple of weeks ago. He goes in for his 4 month appointment on Wednesday.

He is such a sweet, happy, content little boy. He is so full of smiles!!! He smiles at everyone, everywhere. It is such a huge grin that fills up his whole face and it is so stinkin' adorable. When he is fussy, it's pretty easy to narrow down the problem and he is content pretty quickly. And, if nothing else is working, a quick swaddle and nurse and he puts himself down for a nap, which is unbelievable to me!! He takes 1 1/2- 2 hour naps on his own almost every day!!

I'll interrupt myself and explain this. I hate comparing my kids, but really, we all do it. Kalaya was a very, very, VERY fussy baby. She had to be carried and/or nursed almost all the time and it took her a loooong time to figure out how to go to sleep on her own. I tried all those magic books, tricks, advice and wore myself sick trying to believe it was me who was doing something 'wrong'. I thought it was my fault, but really, Kalaya needed help learning how to sleep. (and yes, I got desperate enough to try crying it out and NO, it didn't work at our house)

Now with Jakiah, I can put him down awake (though drowsy) and he FALLS ASLEEP ON HIS OWN. That NEVER happened with Kalaya. EVER. I literally still check to make sure he is breathing during naps, because I'm so not used to it! We're still working on nighttime, but I really do feel that a lot of nights, I'm getting 'enough' sleep. At least enough to function more or less. Thank goodness there is no dress or cleanliness code for being a stay at home mom.....

Jakiah is so alert and interested in everything now! He's starting to reach for and hold on to toys for brief periods of time. He has started playing on our baby gym and enjoys looking and grabbing the toys, though I think it's often a coincidence when he actually succeeds in grabbing a toy. He LOVES watching his big sister play and is just fascinated by her. His face lights up whenever she comes up to him (which is ALL the time) and he loves her so much.

I'm pretty sure teething has started. Those fingers are ALWAYS in his mouth, gumming, gumming, and the DROOL! Bibs are a must have these days. And, if I put my finger in there, CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP!! Kalaya started teething around now, but I could nap with her during the day when I was a pacifier at night....this too shall pass.

He is such a talker already! I love his sweet baby coos and babbles. I remember being so excited for Kalaya to learn her first words, but I kinda wish I could keep this little guy speaking baby talk forever. I just love when he stops nursing, grins a big grin (with milk dripping down his chin), and says, "Ahhhh.....murmble, Mmmmm" and then nuzzles into my shoulder or starts nursing again. Pure paradise!

Seriously, look how in love with me he is! : )

Small Style 5/17

Oh, it's so fun to have a little man to dress up every day! Okay, it's fun to have a baby in general to dress up! I loved (and still love!) having a girl to dress up. I wasn't sure how fun it would be to dress up a boy; no ribbons and bows, dresses, etc, but it is really fun! My mom saved a lot of clothes of my brother's from back in the day, so those will show up occasionally too!

I cannot get enough of my little man!

 Getting ready for the beach!! (Oregon is windy!)

Hat: Target

Sweatshirt: Carter's          

The single greatest baby outfit EVER: vintage Lacoste outfit, complete with polo and short shorts!

 This is from Easter, but I never posted it. My husband picked this outfit out before Jakiah was born and it was a HUGE hit at church! (note: this is the most we have EVER spent on an outfit for a baby....I told my husband one extravagant outfit and this was it) He said it made Jakiah look like Will Shuester from Glee! (we're BIG Gleeks at our house!)

Shirt, vest, pants: FAO Schwartz for Babies R Us

Socks: Target

Big Sister Kalaya wearing her new favorite Abby Cadabby shirt!

Shirt: Sesame Street Live

Shorts: Target

I am linking with Morgan at Mama Loves Papa

30th Birthday/Mother's Day Beach Trip

This past weekend was Nelson's 30th birthday, as well as Mother's Day, so I planned a fun (surprise!) trip away to Lincoln City and the beach! It was the first vacation for us as a family of 4! We went with one of our favorite families in the whole world, whose kids are the same age as ours and whose daddy had also just turned 30. We stayed at the beach house we rented last year and there was plenty of room for 2 families!

I asked Nelson to take off early on Friday (his actual birthday) and we picked him up with the car packed and loaded (THAT was not easy to pull off without him noticing and with 2 kids....), went to lunch and headed to the coast. The weather was predicted to be gorgeous and it was! Windy, of course, as Lincoln City always seems to be, but sunny and Oregon Coast warm (around 70!) all weekend. Kalaya is a true Oregonian and went in the water as much as possible, even though it was pretty chilly!

Friday afternoon we spent playing at the beach, enjoying the hot tub, having a birthday dinner and birthday cake for Daddy, as well as cards and presents. Saturday morning was some relaxing and beach time and waiting for friends to arrive! The Coupens family got there in the early afternoon and we spent the day chasing the older (3 year old) girls around on the beach and in the water, flying kites, digging in the sand, looking at rocks and shells, trying to keep the babies (3 and 6 months) from being blown away, getting food ready, playing with toys, making ANOTHER birthday cake for the guys and enjoying being together as friends and families. We hope this is the beginning of many, many vacations for our two families in the years to come!

Sunday morning was cleaning, packing, bubbles, Mother's Day cards and kisses, "Tangled", digging at the beach one last time, and lunch and shopping at the outlets. It was a wonderful trip and we hope to get together and do it again at least once more this summer!

 Happy, sweet boy, ready to hit the beach!

Poor Daddy is always the one chosen to assist in the cooooold water! 

Jakiah slept instead and chewed on his fingers 

 Happy 30th Birthday Daddy!

Kite flying

She did great!

First time 'in' the Pacific Ocean!

Love my boy!!

Elena wasn't as confident with this water as Kalaya!

Windy family pic

Relaxing and warming up after the beach

Daddies and babies

Happy birthday daddies!!

Cutest smile ever in an old outfit of my brother's

Love this one of the BFFs!

They were both out cold almost the whole way home!!

Small Style 5/10

I haven't posted a small style in a LONG time and have never done one with my sweet little boy!

This outfit was my brother's from many years ago, saved by Oma.

This swimsuit was a hand me down and the rolls are home grown : )

I am linking with Mama Loves Papa.

The Cinderella Birthday Party

So, I wanted to have fun planning a themed party, but do it on a budget. A very small budget, since it was for a 3 year old. We do have bigger birthday parties than I remember having, mainly because right now Kalaya doesn't have a huge opinion on who is invited to her party. Once we start preschool in the fall, I think this will change. I still make the guest list at this point and it consists of a lot of family and some close family friends. I wanted a simple, home made cake, themed snacks, simple games/activities for the kids and a favor to take home. Here's what we did.

The theme was, by Kalaya's choice, Cinderella.

For a gift/outfit to wear to the party, I found a knock-off brand Cinderella dress, that was $9.99, instead of the Disney brand costumes that were $35+ on Amazon. She loved it!

The activities and games were practically free! The first was dress up for the ball. I drew the wall picture of Cinderella myself and we already owned the dress ups!

I drew Jaq and Gus and cut out the keys to hide around the house. (the kids weren't very interested in this one, but that's okay!!)

I drew this picture of Cinderella and cut out outlines of glass slippers for the kids to decorate and put on the poster.

This was the biggest hit: Fairy Godmother wand making and crown decorating:

 I drew the Fairy Godmother and created the demo wand. The supplies came from the Dollar Tree (foam sheets that I cut with a star die cut at my mom's school, glitter glue, curling ribbon, foam stickers and princess crowns) and Home Depot (dowels that we cut and sanded to the right length) Total cost: around $7. The kids had a blast making them!

Here's a sign I hung at the front door : )

The decorations consisted of the drawings I made hung up, a Disney princess table cloth and birthday banner, some Cinderella dress blue latex balloons and white streamers. (the pics had weird back light with them....)

I don't know WHY I can't get this picture to rotate, but here's the snack table

The snacks all had a Cinderella character picture and description with them: Princess Punch (cherry 7 Up with pineapple juice concentrate), Bibbiti Bobbity 'Bobs' (skewers with fruit), Jaq and Gus' cheese and crackers, the Prince's pizza puffs, the Duke's dip (OMG, SO GOOD!!!) and chips, Stepmother's veggies, and Lucifer's cat treats (Goldfish crackers).

And, here's the cake!

I was inspired by this idea and made it into my own. I baked 2 different boxed cake mixes (Kalaya chose yellow and chocolate) in bundt pans and inverted them on top of each other. Then I tinted 2 cans of cream cheese frosting and decorated with blue icing. The wheels are cookies and the decorations are from a Disney playset and the castle is from Disney.com.

3rd Birthday

Yup, I officially have a little girl. No more baby, barely even a toddler. And tomorrow, we are visiting her potential preschool for the fall. PRESCHOOL. And, if you ask her, "No Mommy, I'm a BIG girl!" Yes you are sweet Kalaya, a growing, bright eyed, happy, healthy, kind, lovable, wonderful big girl!!

We started off the birthday weekend with a trip to Sesame Street Live on Friday. She loved it!! It's a lot to take, all the kids, the lights, the sounds, the giant dancing Muppets, but she thought it was so fun! The other exciting thing was that at dinner (at Burgerville), she got to have fries for the very first time. Success!! (shocking, I know) Though, she didn't quite finish them all, but did manage to eat her whole garden burger on a whole wheat bun : )

The show was a lot of fun and it was super cute to see all the kids getting SO excited about Elmo. Because, sorry Big Bird, Oscar and Telly, apparently Elmo is the most exciting to every. single. kid. Seriously, what is it about that Muppet?? Jakiah is already drawn to images of that little red guy and was looking all around when Elmo was talking and singing during the show! (he did GREAT by the way!) And, it was absolutely hilarious when the show was over and 400 toddlers cried, "Where did Elmo GO?????"

Saturday we spent the day getting the house ready for the party on Sunday. We let Kalaya open some of her family presents and she had a lot of fun with them! We got her some little Disney playsets; one of the Cinderella characters, one of the Winnie the Pooh characters, both big hits at our house currently!, as well as a play castle for Cinderella and some new clothes for her Cinderella doll. My aunt also got her a really cute dress and gardening books, seeds and tools that are for helping in the garden, which she loves!! Now if I could just get the garden started....next year's project.....

Sunday was the big day and the party! The theme was Cinderella and she had been telling everyone for WEEKS that she was having a Cinderella party and turning 3! She woke up to a new dress up of Cinderella's dress and decided to wear it to church. With her rainboots, of course, as a true Oregon princess should : ) But, the weather turned out to be GORGEOUS! The kids played inside, outside, ate cake, made wands, dressed up, jumped on the trampoline, tried out our toys, and had a blast! I'm going to do a separate post on the theme of the party. Kalaya got some wonderful gifts, including LOTS of new clothes, a bike helmet, Mr and Mrs Potato Head, a princess umbrella (which seems to be the favorite!) a My Little Pony (she's still not really sure what that is, but likes it anyway!), pajamas, coloring books, stickers, and a puzzle. We had lots of family and friends and it was great to get together with everyone.

 The princess waiting for her party to start!

 Wand making

 Toddlers get VERY obedient when a cake is nearby....

 She's THREE!!!

 Cake tastes better with friends!

Cutest bike helmet ever! 

Sharing with Elena : )

Don't ask how my house is looking. We're still recovering. : )

Distractions

Recently, Nelson and I both had to retake the Oregon driving test, due to the fact that we have both been using Washington drivers licences for, oh, about a year longer than we are supposed to. In Washington, to get a new license, you simply show your current state license and it is assumed you can drive, they take your money, they take your picture, you're done. Not in Oregon. Nope, you have to take that test that you took at 16 all over again. So, yes, we both read the manual again (or skimmed it between nursing, reading stories, cooking, doing laundry, cleaning, listening to toddler stories, etc) and we both managed to pass the test, hooray! Strangely, we both got the EXACT same scores that we got at 16, which was weird. Mine was higher, which CLEARLY means I am the better driver!

Yeah right.

Anyway, one thing that stood out to me in the manual was this recommendation: You should not drive while distracted.

Actually, it didn't stand out really to me at the time. It flashed, screaming through my brain a few weeks later, during the following scenario:

We were running late to dance class, Jakiah was screaming at the top of his lungs, this was making my milk let down, starting to soak through my nursing pads, Kalaya was babbling to me about God-knows-what (mommy? Mommy. MOMMY?!!??), I was driving with my left hand, holding the pacifier over the rear-facing car seat in attempt to 'pacify' my screaming infant with my right hand, had my breakfast on the console, which I was trying to take bites of at stop lights (the car is about the only place I can get a meal some days, this was one of them), the story of Cinderella was blaring over the sound of the screaming baby, I had been up to nurse every 45 minutes the night before, I hadn't gotten to shower that morning, I had left my house in total chaos and we hit every. single. red. light.

Distracted?

ME????????

Clearly, DMV manuals are not written by mothers.

On a separate note:

If you go to get a new license picture taken 6 weeks after having a baby, you will look like you just had a baby in the picture, no matter how cute you manage to style your hair, do your make up or what shirt you are wearing. No DMV camera can hide the dark circles of 3 am feedings, or that extra little layer under your regular chin. Just sayin'.

Easter 2012

Easter was so fun with 2 little ones in the house! Granted, Jakiah didn't have a clue it was Easter,but I'm sure he sensed his sister's excitement and had a good time just the same!

We started out with the Palm Sunday egg hunt at our church on, duh, Palm Sunday. Unfortunately, Jakiah and I missed it, as we were out of town. But, nothing like home videos to let me see it!! She was timid, as she always is with large, noisy crowds, but managed to get plenty of eggs full of prizes and candy (candy taken away later....yup, we're still those parents) and got to choose an extra prize as well. I am told that she purposefully picked the carrot shaped bubble necklace because there were two, 'one for me and one for Elena!', which makes me think that some where, some how, we are doing something right raising this child! ; ) Good job sharing sweetie!!

Saturday evening before Easter, she dyed eggs, which she LOVED! However, trying to explain to a toddler that the eggs are supposed to be in the dye for 5 minutes to get the best colors is not very realistic. Nor is keeping the eggs in only one color! But, I let it go and she had a great time, though it was not very long and she didn't understand why we couldn't do it again Sunday!! But, fun for the most part. We then put out our basket with the empty eggs and talked about who was going to fill the basket and eggs, which she had been talking about ALL week!!

Sunday morning, we woke up and the eggs were hidden around the living room and there were surprises in the basket! Nothing fancy; Kalaya got some bubble toys, paint stuff and hair stuff. Her eggs were filled with bunny shaped crackers, bunny shaped organic 100% fruit snacks and organic whole grain Winnie the Pooh crackers. Yup, we're wild around here folks!! She also got a special Cinderella present too. Jakiah's basket has 2 toys, new baby wash (hey, California Baby stuff is expensive!!) and new pacifiers. : ) Kalaya loved looking for eggs and did it

very, very, diligently. As in, one at a time, take back to the basket on the table, open it, look at each thing, go find another egg, etc. Maybe next year we'll switch the hunt until after church.....

Church was fun for Mommy, I got to dress up TWO little ones this year! Kalaya wore her Easter dress from last year with a new sash. I chose blue, so that I could have a 'girl in a white dress with a blue satin sash'!! She had a hat and gloves, just for fun (can't beat $1 each! and now they're great for dress ups!) and new shoes too! Jakiah's outfit was so, so, SO cute, it is fun to dress up a little man too!!

Sunday afternoon was spent at Nelson's parents' house and we had a great time and ate GOOD FOOD! I didn't have to do a thing!!

Spring Break 2012

Another year with a spring break trip to the South! A little different from last year's trip....

A lot different actually. First off, I traveled with a 2 month old, rather than an almost 2 year old. BIG DIFFERENCE. And much less to pack on the plane. And, I was away from my daughter for a week.

A WHOLE WEEK!!

Up until that point, we hadn't been apart for even 24 hours yet. I think 18 was the most we'd ever been separated. Needless to say, it was a big change for both of us. The good news was that Daddy took the week off and did a ton of fun things with her; the Children's Museum, the zoo, the park, ice cream....but, most importantly, for the first time since January 25th, she got 100% all of the attention in her house. They had a great time and we kept in touch over phone calls and Skype, which I am so amazed by and so grateful for over and over again!

Jakiah was a champ on all of the flights, 2 each direction. He was perfectly content in the ring sling, would wake up to nurse and go back to sleep pretty quickly. He was fussed over and admired by everyone, but, who can blame them?? We had some minor fussy times, but they were easy to remedy. Just made sure we had plenty of diapers, extra clothes and everything was fine!

Our trip started in Alabama at my mom's parent's house. We arrived Monday afternoon and my mom was already there. This wasn't totally a pleasure trip, but it was wonderful for Jakiah to meet his great grandparents! They are starting the process of moving out of their home, to live in a retirement community. They've had some minor health issues lately and we will all have peace of mind once they are in the (beautiful, by the way!) new place they are planning to live in. But, the kids and grandkids have been helping them sort through what can go with them and what can't, and it's been challenging for everyone. Luckily, no fights or anything, but they have a lot of things and a lot of memories and it just won't all fit. So, mom and I helped with that for 2 days and then went to Georgia to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins, which was more focused on being fun!! Except for my poor VERY pregnant cousin, bless her heart, who let us stay at her house. She's very far along in her pregnancy with TWINS! Since we left, she is in the hospital on bedrest until the boys arrive. Hope our trip wasn't the cause! : (

(Did I mention she's naming her twins Fred and George??? It's so amazing!)

But, we spent a few days with family, introducing Jakiah, having lots of yummy meals and just sitting around catching up, exactly what I needed. It was (kind of) good to be away from Kalaya, only because I got to see what it's like to miss her!! I wish she could have gone too, but it costs for her to fly now and we just couldn't afford it. Plus, I don't think I'm brave enough to travel on the plane with an infant AND a toddler, even though they are both good flyers!! The trip was a lot of fun and the weather was GORGEOUS!! Warm, sunny and no thunderstorms!

Ma Ma and Pa Pa Price

Hard to say goodbye to their house..... : (

Aunt Sandy, who was GREAT any time I needed a break and offered to hold the baby!

Happy boy in summer clothes, playing at Ma Ma and Pa Pa's